I put 40+ recorded hours into Thronebreaker. Now I say recorded hours based on the screen that displays your game time either from the Gray rider and the "end of act" screen, and not including the hours from the dozens of battles that I had to redo due to the game crashing in the middle of a battle, or worse just after I win a battle but before the game can save... If I did count those hours I'd easily say 60+ hours, probably more.
I purchased the game on Ps4 when the game initially released. My expectations weren't all that high because I figured "how could they turn more of the same ol' gwent into an amazing and clever story with innovative gameplay and features?"
And I wish I could say that I was blown away. I really wish I could because how could one not love the story, the characters, the puzzles, the role playing aspects and the impactful choices that you make? Even the regular battles are entertaining, although do get stale and repetitive after a while (which is perhaps my only real gripe in terms of gameplay).
But I can't say that I'm blown away by this game. Because this game at launch is an absolute embarrassment. All these issues are well known by now but after playing so much I feel like I need to say my piece. The amount of bugs and crashes that plague this game is absurd. I don't believe I've ever experienced in any console game, ever, the amount of crashes that I have experienced with Thronebreaker.
I've experienced an insane amount of crashing. Crashing while roaming around the map, crashing during mid battle, and crashing after I win the battle. But of course the game crashes after I win the battle but before it can save, forcing me to have to play through that battle again...
And during battles, the game is incredibly laggy. AI takes up to 30 seconds to pick and play a card. I wouldn't be too upset over the laggy battles and slow AI, as it extends the battle time by a few minutes and the visuals become choppy but it doesn't take away from the experience too much. But the fact that the game crashes after winning the battle, and doesn't save, and you're forced to redo the entire battle, and now the game lags, and the AI takes forever to make a move... It essentially turns a 10 minute battle that's but a mere minor inconvenience for queen Meve, into a 30 minute major headache for you, the player, who had already just won one battle and are now forced to win it again 1 or 2 times so you can continue with the story. Sometimes crashing would lock up my Ps4, forcing me to restart my console, start up the game, load my save file, do the battle over again, win, and cross my fingers and pray that the game didn't crash again.
But I was in love with the game. And I had to drag on and struggle through the campaign to unravel more of the amazing story. And I struggled and played and restarted the game and rebooted my ps4 and rinsed and repeated until I finally got to where I am now. Map 5. Now every one to two battles, the game crashes. Sometimes I'm lucky and can weasle my way through a battle crash free. Most of the times I can't. And I've given up on this ridiculous cycle. I'm deadlocked, and now I can no longer play until the game is properly patched.
They released this game on a Playstation. It's not a pc where everyone's hardware and software is a little bit different and where it's difficult to optimize a game for everyone. Of course bugs, crashes and glitches and the like are to be expected and eventually ironed out.
But on a Playstation? They are almost cookie cutter, carbon copies of each other (minus a few differences between pro's, regulars, special editions, etc.) running on the same software. Any developer who actually tested the launch version of the game on the ps4 prior to release and actually played it for more than 10 minutes would've had to run into any of these issues.
For them to have known these issues existed before launch, and to release the game anyway, is an absolute disgrace. And if they didn't test the launch version on the console before releasing it, then it's an absolute embarrassment. Either way they should be ashamed to have released the game in this state.
The game in and of itself is amazing. However the constant crashing, getting forced to do long and laggy battle over and over again and getting deadlocked into not being able to complete the game after getting so far has made the experience of an otherwise great game, infuriating and disappointing.
